London Olympics bronze-medallist woman boxer MC Mary Kom has finally been allotted the plot of land promised to her by the Manipur government to expand her boxing academy. The Manipur based pugilist packs a punch in whatever she does. Winning the first boxing gold in the Olympics was certainly on her mind even after experiencing motherhood. This shows her determination to excel even during unfavorable circumstances.
"The managing board/committee of Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation would like to extend heartfelt gratitude to the Government of Manipur; Hon'ble CM. Shri. O Ibobi Singh and his Cabinet for allotting 3.30 acres of land, No. 21/109/2011-R as approved by the cabinet on 19/02/2013 for construction of infrastructure for the existing boxing academy of MC Mary Kom at National Games Village, Langol," a release from the Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation stated.
Perhaps, this comes as a major relief for all those budding boxers who would like to excel in their chosen field. It is not an uncommon sight now in Manipur that more and more young girls planning to take up boxing as their ideal profession. There were times when people used to raise eyebrows when any girl would think of boxing. However, things have change immensely ever since the successful saga of Mary Kom.
The land was promised to her in August last year after she won a bronze medal in the London Olympics, where women's boxing made its debut, but the approval from the state cabinet came only earlier this month.
Mary Kom is not sure of participating in Rio Olympics in 2016. Additionally, she has not made up whether to take up pro boxing events in order to support herself financially. There has been tremendous support from the boxing fraternity because of the tremendous skills she has got on display. Most of the boxers are known to follow her footsteps after the professional achievements she got in recent times.
The academy was actually established in the year 2006 with prime focus on underprivileged potentials. It provides free training and boarding and lodging to its wards. Ultimately, the objective is to offer maximum support to all those who would like to realize their big dreams by starting on a smaller note.
The current number of students at the academy is 57 (29 residential and 28 outsiders).
"My long cherished dream next to Olympics is coming closer to reality and I am very grateful to Hon'ble C.M. Pabung O. Ibobi Singh for his concern," Mary said.
"I believe this will be a great motivation to my students to work harder and bring more laurels. Let us strive towards mentoring our future generation in whichever way we can," she added.
Mary maintained that the land will come in handy to further academy's strength.
"It will remain a great encouragement to the students and the committee as certain challenges we are facing will be coped to some extent, especially training during rainy season," she said.
"We look forward to giving better performance in future with the blessings from the Government and the people of this land," she added.
